The Michael W Smith and Amy Grant Christmas show is returning to the Target Center in Minneapolis next Saturday. They will be performing all your favorite Christmas/Holiday songs; fun for the entire family.

I am assuming, like the previous appearance, that they will also be accompanied by a full symphony orchestra. Should be for a swingin' good time.

The special Amsterdam Bar and Hall’s 4th Anniversary show is this December 12, featuring some local bands: Zoo Animal, Bruise Violet (probably named after a Babes in Toyland song) and Swimsuit Area.

Holly Hansen (vuart)

According to details below - this is the final Zoo Animal show... but I'm sure we'll see singer Holly Hansen around. You probably know that I randomly sketch at shows if I don't have a camera (for example), and as a special bonus, here are some notes and vuart for Holly.

Toronto producer Grandtheft has released his debut Quit This City EP, out today on Mad Decent / Pirates Blend in Canada. The emotional video for "Quit This City" (feat. Lowell) was directed by John Poliquin
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Toronto producer Grandtheft will be stopping by the Loft (inside the Skyway Theatre) in Minneapolis, in support of his debut EP Quit This City (Mad Decent / Pirates Blend).

The promo video for "Quit This City" (feat. Lowell) was directed by John Poliquin and featured a sex worker in Barcelona struggling to provide for her two children.
Director John Poliquin had this to say about his vision for the video, "Shot across two nights in Barcelona with a primarily Spanish cast and crew, these scenes are a combination of conventional filmmaking and on-the-wall documentary observations. Many of the scenes were filmed in the rowdy nightlife district where the camera had to be concealed at points for safety. The scenes where the girls are working the corner was photographed on a long lens from across the street, which led to the actresses being approached by both police and men looking to hire sex workers. Some of the men who approached the actresses were disrespectful and harassing, which unfortunately mirrored the malicious spirit of the final man in the film."

We were lucky enough to have caught Charli XCX in Chicago in 2013, before she was a household name.

She was mostly known for writing hit songs for other artists, including Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" and "Beg For It", Icona Pop's "I Love It", and Ryn Weaver's debut single "OctaHate" (who we just saw in Minneapolis)... but now that her song "Boom Clap" was featured in the film The Fault in Our Stars, it skyrocketed to #8 on Billboard Hot 100.

Anyway, Charli XCX is doing a co-headlining tour with Bleachers this summer, stopping by the Cabooze Plaza in Minneapolis next Tuesday.

This time, he's headlining in support of his critically acclaimed full-length album Chaos and the Calm (Republic Records). The album debut #1 in over 20 countries and is currently this year's best-selling debut album in the UK

Unfortunately, if you wanted to check him out, his show next Tuesday at the Varsity Theater is sold out.

The Minneapolis Trio On An On will be heading out on tour in support of their latest album And The Wave Has Two Sides, which is coming out next Friday, July 24th, via Roll Call Records.
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Minneapolis' On An On recently held a special album launch show for their latest album And The Wave Has Two Sides at the Icehouse in Minneapolis on Saturday, July 25th (technically Sunday, since the band came on after midnight). This is the first "practice" show for the band before they head out on their national tour starting August 20th (see confirmed tour dates on the sidebar).

I believe the reason why Icehouse's shows takes place so late in the evening, is because the Icehouse is normally a restaurant during normal business hours. By the time 11pm rolled around, it was pretty packed at the small dance floor in front of the stage. That is great, as it tells me that On An On has very a strong local fanbase.

Dem Yuut

Opening up was Dem Yuut, a group of four DJs (Jeremy, Don, Danny, and Jef) mixing pre-recorded music, anything from hip hop to rock to reggae, live on center stage. The DJs came and went in 15 minutes blocks, and apparently Zoo Animal's Holly Hansen was a big fan.

On An On came on stage slightly after midnight and played for about an hour, ending just a little after 1am.

As expected with the album release for And The Wave Has Two Sides, they played some new tracks for us, including starting song "Behind the Gun", followed by "Icon Love".

Right before playing another new song "Alright Alright", they told us that they were having such a fun time preparing and practicing the new songs for the album release show.

Of course, they also did some old songs, like "The Hunter" and the set closer (and fan favorite) "Ghosts" from their debut album Give In.

Obviously we're big fans here, having seen/covered their previous shows in support of Give In, locally and at Los Angeles and Brighton:

The 20th Anniversary of the Basilica Block Party is taking place on Friday (July 11) and Saturday (July 12).
I have mentioned before that it's not a great place to see music (because of the talkers....

Weezer's singer Rivers Cuomo brought out his dad, Frank Cuomo, and they play "Back to the Shack". One of the most touching things I have witness in my many years of watching Weezer shows. …

The annual Basilica Block Party to benefit the restoration of the Basilica of Saint Mary, kicked off its first night on Friday, July 10th.
It was a perfect day for an outdoor summer festival that just right before the entrance was opened at 5pm, the organizers announced that they officially sold out all 15,000 tickets for Friday's show.

If you're not familiar with how the Basilica Block Party is organized, it is like the three bears approach: The main stage for the big headliners, the medium-sized stage mid-sized headliners, and the small stage for local bands. The schedule is done in a way that they would play against each other, so it's actually impossible for you to enjoy a full set of every band.

Star Tribune Stage

Tyte Jeff's setlist

The first of the local bands on the Star Tribune Stage was Tyte Jeff (featuring singer/guitarist Jeff Allen, drummer Matt Johnson, guitarist Jeff Marcovis, and bassist Aaron Ripplinger). The band played a few tracks from their self-titled 2014 EP, including intro song ‘Exurb Kids Don't Know What They Don't Know’ and ‘Imagine This Before Irony’ on their 45-min set.

Rupert Angeleyes

Next up was Rupert Angeleyes, in green hair and shorts. Like their previously live appearance at Record Store Day 2015, the garagey/60s surf band played tracks from their latest album Young Sunset, including some sensitive songs like ‘Delicate Guy’ and ‘When I Fell in Love’.

Zoo Animal

Headliner for the Star Tribune Stage was Zoo Animal who had a full hour to play. The band lead by Holly Hansen (who previously was billed under Holly Newsom), and she was muy emocionada to preview some brand new songs.

Zoo Animal is headlining the Cedar Cultural Center this July 31st, with Har-di-Har and Circadia. The show will also feature an art installation by Rachel Andrzejewskiat.

PreferredOne Stage

Matthew Sweet (with Gary Louris)

Over at the PreferredOne Stage was Matthew Sweet with a full band: Paul Chastain on bass, Dennis Taylor on lead guitars, and Ric Menck on drums.

The Sweet set was a real treat, with about half his set taken from his breakout 1991 Girlfriend album, including the title track, ‘Evangeline’, and ‘I've Been Waiting’.

The real highlight on his hour long set was when Sweet invited The Jayhawks’ Gary Louris on stage to help jam out and provided backing vocals to the last four songs: ‘Divine Intervention’, "I've Been Waiting’, ‘Girlfriend’, and ‘Sick Of Myself’.

Matthew Sweet is currently on a Midwest Summer 2015 tour with California's Orange Peels.

Mat Kearney

Oregon’s Nashville transplant Mat Kearney has always been a local favorite, playing almost every venue in town, though his last Basilica appearance in 2012, was cut short and forced to be acoustic, due to storms, so his hour-long set was “redemption”, in his words.

Kearney also brought along Leagues (and ex-Audio Adrenaline) guitarist and New Brighton resident, Tyler Burkham and noted sponsoring station Cities 97 was one of the first to play his breakout single, ‘Nothing Left to Lose’.

During ‘Undeniable’ Kearney scat sang a list of all the local venues he’s played previously, and worked in a verse of a U2 cover, during his own song, ‘Runaway’, with his bulk of his set from new album, Just Kids (Republic Records).

O.A.R.

Rockville, MD quartet O.A.R. is very familiar with the Basilica stage and has also done several promotional appearances for Cities 97, so their inclusion to headline the Preferred One stage on Day One, seemed a natural fit. Singer Marc Roberge and band were so “in the zone” playing that they didn’t break until after the sixth song, with Roberge remarking “I always forget to say 'Hi 'because we love playing so much”.

‘About an Hour Ago’ was described as the first song they ever wrote together, and the band, known for its spontaneous changes, veered from its own setlist in favor of more hits, including first single, ‘Hey Girl’.

Their somewhat abbreviated 90 min. set still allowed for three songs from their newest, last year’s The Rockville LP (Vanguard Records), with strongest crowd responses saved for hit ‘Shattered (Turn the Car Around), namesake song ‘That Was a Crazy Game of Poker’, and closing Bob Marley cover, ‘Stir It Up’.

Sun Country Airlines Stage

Motion City Soundtrack

Motion City Soundtrack can still qualify as a local band, despite their nationwide popularity and proof that they still connect in Minneapolis, was seen at a crowded main stage for their late afternoon set.

Lead singer Justin Pierre seemed genuinely excited to be play the event for the first time and the band played many of their favorites and a good chunk from album, Commit This to Memory, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary with its single, ‘Everything is Alright’.

They also debut some new songs, including ‘TKO’, the lead single from its upcoming album L.G. Fuad (Let's Get F***ed Up And Die), due in September back on Epitaph Records, their original label. Even their street team was on high alert, papering the outhouses with posters of the album’s impending release.

DJ Windsor spun some music during the 30-min setup on the main stage. You can see him on the right side of the stage, where Cities 97 DJs Brian Oake and Keri Noble would also come on to introduce the bands.

Nate Ruess

Former The Format and fun. singer Nate Ruess did a great job pumping up the audience for headliner Weezer. He stormed the stage with his large six-piece band to play ‘Great Big Storm’.

Since the band is relatively new (the Basilica Block Party was only the third US date on their tour), having only formed since fun.'s hiatus in February 2015, they only have a debut album Grand Romantic (which was released last month on June 15th). They were smart enough to not play all new songs, instead trickling them in between fan-favorite fun. hit songs like ‘We Are Young’ and set closer ‘Some Nights’.

He also threw in two other covers, P!nk's ‘Just Give Me a Reason’ and Prince's ‘Let's Go Crazy’. Ruess' story about the latter cover is that they would cover that song in Sweden, and no one knew the song. Of course, it's a different story in Minneapolis, Prince's hometown, as everyone in the audience was singing back, "Oh, no let's go! Let's go crazy!"

Sure, the band is still young, but they knew exactly what they were doing. Ruess had great vocals and his high energy was impossible to ignore. Keep an eye on them.

The first time I saw Weezer, they opened up for Lush at Fillmore, San Francisco in 1994. I saw them again in 2000 and 2005 at First Avenue, both sold out, of course. I believe that was the last club-sized show, in 2005, because currently, the group only book at stadium-sized venues, like Xcel Energy Center, Minnesota State Fair, Basilica Block Party, and the recent Burgerama Music Festival in Santa Ana.

Rivers Cuomo

Only a couple of songs from their latest Everything Will Be Alright In The End album were played, including ‘Back To The Shack’, ‘Eulogy For A Rock Band’, and ‘Go Away’. The latter was actually written and performed as a duet, as singer/guitarist Rivers Cuomo pointed out... so guitarist Brian Bell took over the second lead vocals. Bell also handled vocals for "Keep Fishin'", and Scott Shriner took over on ‘Dope Nose’.

As soon as the first few chords of ‘Hash Pipe’ were played, the audience immediately recognized it and started screaming and singing. Other big hits blocks included ‘Surf Wax America’, followed by ‘Island in the Sun’ with personalized "Minneapolis" lyrics, and ‘Beverly Hills’ (which did gangbuster in California, but surprisingly did really well in Minnesota as well).

They have been traditionally ending all their sets with their first single, ‘Undone - The Sweater Song’. That song is always tricky to play live because there is speaking background audio recording that doesn't always translate well in live performances. It's not one of my favorite live songs, but I can understand why the band chose that song to end their show.

Despite a late start, Weezer left enough time for a two-song encore, coming back on for ‘Memories’ and big crowd pleaser ‘Buddy Holly’. Instead of just walking off stage at the end of ‘Buddy Holly’, everyone in the band took drum sticks and started pounding on the Tom-Toms with drummer Patrick Wilson.

The "band" was the Anonymous Choir, a large cast of women backup singer lead by Nona Marie (Dark Dark Dark). The music portion was provided by the Ventures Cover Band, plus two additional horn players who came on later …

Next was Zoo Animal, a band that I've seen a few times. Mostly with just Holly Newsom by herself, so it's always nice to see her backed up with a full functioning band. …

New Zealand's Tiny Ruins is currently touring in the U.S., promoting their second album Brightly Painted One (Flying Nun Records), stopping by the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis last night, July 30.

Holly Hansen

Opening up the show were two local bands; starting with Holly Newsom, now performing under her original name, Holly Hansen. The new/old name confused a few fans, even one person insisted that First Avenue had the wrong person on the bill, as they swear that Holly Hansen and Holly Newsom were two different people. One thing was for sure was that she's still normally in a full band called Zoo Animal.

Hansen played gentle quiet songs, and often had one-way chats with the audience between her songs. She had some funny moments on stage, like forgetting how to play a chord mid-song, and gracefully calling the show as "a night of sweethearts" (which to be fair, was a quote that she stole from her mother, who was in the crowd).

Anonymous Choir

Next up were Anonymous Choir, who we previously wrote that the band was lead by singer Nona Marie from Dark Dark Dark. Color me impressed, they managed to fit all seven women on the tiny 7th Street Entry stage.

Music on their set included plenty of Leonard Cohen ("Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye", "I'm Your Man", "Chelsea Hotel") and
Neil Young ("After The Gold Rush", "I Believe In You", and "Don't Let It Bring You Down"). Throwing in a Curtis Mayfield cover of "I've Been Trying" for good measure. Highlight of the set was a cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill", which was quite fitting considering that it was Bush's birthday last night.

As for Tiny Ruins, this was a solo project originally from 2009 by singer/songwriter Hollie Fullbrook. Currently, with the release of the sophomore album Brightly Painted One, she's recruited bassist Cass Basil and drummer Alexander Freer, to head out on tour with her in the USA.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that the majority of songs on the setlist is from Brightly Painted One, possibly because the new songs now require Basil and Freer's involvement...

Fullbrook had a lot of little stories about her songs, which you quickly realized that all her songs are personal insight on her life. One particular story she told was for "Ballad of the Hanging Parcel". Although she's currently based in New Zealand, she spent her first ten years living in Bristol, England. One night, she climbed out her house and tied a string to a rock (?) and hung it over the garden step. The next morning her neighbor friend wondered how it got up there and Fullbrook suggested that it was magic. The swinging rock remained there for the next two years.

The highlight of the Minneapolis show has got to be "Jamie Blue", which the band claimed was the first time they played it live on this tour. The story behind this was they spent the night at the Necropolis in Glasgow and Fullbrook took a shining to one of the painting from the 1800s, which she named Jaime Blue on account that the town crier also sold blue buttons on the side of the road.

Setlist

Also, "Night Owl" was listed (see photo), but I do not believe they played this song, at least according to my notes.

For the encore, Fullbrook came back on stage, solo. She asked if there were any requests and had to turn down some songs because some of those songs required a piano. When she heard "Priest With Balloons" shouted out, she quickly said, "I'll do that one." She then tells us the story behind the song, "About four or five years ago, there was a Brazilian priest Carli, who jumped off a cliff with a bunch of helium balloons and floated off into the sky." The truth, as it turned out, "was not good."

Tiny Ruins is currently touring in support of Brightly Painted One. Exciting news is that they will be opening up for Sharon Van Etten this October.

As expected, a pretty quiet evening at the Beat Coffee House in Minneapolis, with an all-star cast of women-singers and songwriters.

Starting it all off is Aria Souder, who started off by herself and then gaining a cellist, then by the time "The Experience" was played, she gained herself a drummer (who incidentally was "working" at the Beat). She started off quiet, but ended loud... before going back to her solo self on the last song. She seems quite happy on stage and I get the impression that she's been around the stage and the Beat for a while now.

The Dirty Darlings brought a much needed upbeat energy to the bill. They also brought friends and families, who may have been in book clubs and math leagues. The Darlings sounds very garagey and definitely twee-ish. While they may be a little young, they certainly have an ear for great indiepop melodies and it should be interesting to see how these BFFs may evolve as a band.

The highlight of their set is their cover of Lykke Li's "Dance Dance Dance". It's too cute when Bri introduced the song: "It's by Lykke Li. She's Swedish. Er..." (as if no one's heard of her... as you know she's on my top 5 for 2008). Their version is definitely more fun and 'dance' and less tribal.

With just her amp and guitar, Holly Newsom did a series of "short songs". She seems to have a lot of songs. Possibly because she's normally in a band called Zoo Animal? I'm assuming she also writes and sings for this band? If not, well I think she should be. She has a very interesting way of singing and talking. Like a lazy southern sound.

Sydney Wayser's setup was quite a change from the minimalistic Newsom. We were wondering about all the fancy mics and recording equipment, but it all made sense when she tells us that if you give her our email address, she will send out information on how to download the recording of this live show.

The prospect is kind of neat: you can re-live Wayser's sunburnt or her endorsing of the $10 Indian food buffet. I guess food is not that inexpensive in New York (although when I was there, I had the best food from Indian to Egypt to Italian, since NY is a mashpot of ethnic cultures.)

Bella Koshka sounds like a very melodic European gypsy gothic music, with a bit of triphop thrown in! I think most of their set is from their 2008 debut album, Slow Dancing on the Ocean Floor, and every song heavily relies on Hilary Davis's violins and backing track. This proved to be a problem towards the end, when they had some minor difficulties with their background music not coming through.

I went to bed with a headache, and woke up in a worst state. There's no doubt about it, I am old.

My pending list is growing larger, it seriously does not matter how many I review, 10 more will always show up to replace the one album I review. While I will just add music to the list if we get it sent to us, for those inquiring about an address, I will politely discourage them from sending music in. I'm not trying to brag, it is just the state of things: too many bands, too little time.

So to take it easy, I've compiled a few newsworthy items:

SYDNEY WAYSER IN MINNEAPOLISI will be attending the Beat Coffee House, this Thursday. I've been to the Beat before, this is quite a tiny cafe and the sit-down atmosphere will guarantee a quiet evening.

The Nebraska Pop Festival is happening August 27th to 30th, all proceeds (tickets are reasonably priced, ranges from $5 to $10, or $25 for all four days) will benefit the University of Nebraska college radio station Mavradio. Looking at the indiepop bands on their lineup, they seem really hardcore indie. It's so indie that I honestly haven't heard of any of these bands. And that may be the problem, I feel like I'm not hip enough to attend (also the fact that I don't live near Nebraska). Well for about $1 per band (24 total bands), that is not a bad price to check them out. And who knows? Maybe you'll discover something new.

Thankfully, I did listen to the mixtape that Matt Beat sent me, and the bands seems to lean towards sugary sweet indiepop. The few bands that I liked right away are Labrador, Transmittens, and Mammoth Life. For more information, you can email NebraskaPopFestival.at.gmail or myspace.

I got a chance to listen to the nicely clubby Blood Diamond Mixtape from Buraka Som Sistema (available as a free download on July 13th via buraka.tv). The album was conceived and mixed by J-WOW.

I only listened to it once, but it's very thumpy. There's a lot of movie dialogue mixed in the songs, I'm not sure which movies they were taken from, but I think some may have came from the "Blood Diamond" movie that the album's name is taken from. Lots of Afrikana/world music with dance beats, but I was a little surprise to see Lykke Li being thrown in the mix "Dance Dance Dance (BSS Mix)".

Good stuff - and it's free. This is a great promotional for their debut LP, Black Diamond (available on Fabric records in April 2009). So check it out.

NEWSBRIEFSMill City Live is a series of "rock the museum" every Thursday in July and August. Prices are reasonable (the cost of getting into the museum at $5 for none members - members automatically get in for free) and there's catering. The bands on the music series ranges from shoegazing (Gospel Gossip), to bluegrass (Caroline Smith), to salsa orchestra (Charanga Tropical), to "neo-psychedelic" ( First Communion Afterparty), to blues (Butanes).

Since it's museum, expect the atmosphere to be low-key and quiet.... less the paintings starts falling off from the reverb. More details at Mill City Museum.

Put it On is a brand new website catering to fashion designers, artists, musicians, and filmmakers. I quickly look over the music section and it just looks like a mess. I suppose I just need some direction, you know? What bands are good ? I didn't recognize any of the bands on there, so don't bother searching for Lilly Allen or whoever is hot right now.

I randomly found a Spanish band from the Dominican Republic called Xtrema Causa and downloaded one of their song as a test: it was free and it was very quick. Unfortunately, the brief biography and lack of additional links, videos, and (large) pictures, kind of made the website useless for me. I ended up looking up their myspace for more info.

Well, the website is new, so there's potential, if you think I'm being harsh, check out the website for yourself: putiton.com.

Playboy begins their Uncovered series. As a cover lover, I will be checking in from time to time to see Nina "Cardigans" Persson's A Camp doing "Pyscho" (Leon Payne), Murray "Dears" Lightburn doing "Doctor Blind" (Emily Haines), and Patterson "Drive-by Truckers" Hood doing "Range War" (Todd Rundgren). The series appears on playboy every second Tuesday of each month and limited to just 10 months. Kicking it all off is Dinosaur Jr doing the Cure's "Just Like Heaven".

Their version is acoustic and J Mascis seems to know all the words by heart. The band just released their 9th album Farm, check out their cover at playboy.com/uncovered.

So, if someone asks you why you read playboy, you can tell them it's for the articles and the music.